Patriots Raiders Odds

Written by Jack Jones

The New England Patriots will be looking to rebound this Sunday when they head out west to face the Oakland Raiders. The Patriots blew a 21-point lead last week to the Buffalo Bills, so they will certainly be playing with a chip on their shoulder. Oakland comes in with confidence after upsetting the New York Jets at home last Sunday. This will be just their second meeting over the last six years, with the Patriots winning 49-26 on the road in 2008.

Looking at the NFL spreads, I find a line of New England -4.5 over Oakland with a total set of 55 points.

New England

The Patriots opened their season with convincing wins over the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers behind 400-plus passing yard performances from Tom Brady. They looked well on their way to a 3-0 start last week, taking an early 21-0 lead over the Buffalo Bills. But that’s when it all fell apart. Brady would throw for 387 yards and four touchdowns, but he also threw four interceptions, one that was returned for a touchdown by Drayton Florence to give the Bills a 31-24 lead.

New England would respond as Brady found Welker on a 6-yard touchdown strike on fourth down with just under four minutes remaining. Buffalo would drive down and kick a game-winning 28-yard field goal as time expired, prevailing 34-31 to put an end to a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots. Brady’s four picks matched his season total for all of last season.

Brady is still completing 69.9 percent of his passes for 1,327 yards and 11 touchdowns to five interceptions, and he leads the league’s No. 1 unit in total offense (540.4 yards/game) and No. 1 passing attack (437.7 yards/game). Wes Welker leads the NFL with 31 receptions for 458 yards and four touchdowns, while tight end Rob Gronkowski has 17 catches for 281 yards and a team-high five scores. The problem with the Patriots has been on defense, where they are 31st in yards allowed (468.7 yards/game). They are only giving up 91.7 yards/game on the ground, and their run defense will certainly be tested this week.

Oakland

The Raiders could easily be 3-0 right now if it wasn’t for that pesky Bills’ squad. Oakland (2-1) opened their season with a 23-20 road victory at Denver. They appeared headed for a 2-0 start in Week 2 after taking a 21-3 lead into halftime against Buffalo. The Raiders would squander that lead in the second half, and go on to lost 35-38 after a Buffalo touchdown in the closing seconds. Oakland would not let that loss affect how they played last week, beating the New York Jets 34-24 at home.

Darren McFadden ran wild on a solid Jets defense, which is something he has been doing on a lot of teams lately. McFadden finished with 171 rushing yards and two touchdowns against New York, and he leads the league with 131 rushing yards per game. He, along with solid offensive line play, have the Raiders as the No. 1 team in the NFL in rushing offense (185.0 yards/game).

Jason Campbell hasn’t been asked to do much at quarterback, but he has been efficient when called upon. Campbell is completing 65.9 percent of his passes for 584 yards and three touchdowns to just one interception. That lone pick came on a hail mary at the end of the Buffalo game, so it wasn’t even his fault. Like the Patriots, the Raiders have been struggling to stop teams on defense. They rank 28th in the league in total defense (410.0 yards/game) heading into a showdown with the NFL’s top-ranked offense.

Betting Trends

The Patriots have proven they know how to respond from a loss, going 24-9-1 ATS in their last 34 games in this situation. New England is heading into one of their favorite months, as the Patriots are 25-7-2 ATS in their last 34 games in October. New England is 45-22-3 ATS in their last 70 road games as well.

Oakland tends to build off of a solid offensive performance, going 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games after scoring more than 30 points in their previous game. The Raiders are a perfect 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog as well. They are also 9-4 ATS in their last 13 vs. a team with a winning record.

If you want the winning side in this game and many others in Week 4, then sign up with expert handicapper Jack Jones today.

Comments

Got something to say?